The Paths of the Dead
by eradicating
Summary: To live, first you must die. Kurosaki Ichigo was dead. Five years, two months and sixteen days after he'd won over Aizen with the Saigo no Getsuga Tensho. A series of DRABBLES on Ichigo's life thereafter in the realm of the dead. AU/GEN/Possibly OOC/Title formerly: Re: Fade to Black
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:** This has been in the backburner for a while, ever since I started reading Bleach again a month or two ago. I was originally going to post this when I finish an entire longer chapter of drabbles (I'd planned on 2, maybe 3 chapters or arcs), but I got stuck on one in the middle. I thought if I started posting them slowly one by one it'll get me started back up again. And then I might actually remember why I wanted to write this in the first place. I swore I had a plot in mind. This is AU from chapter 423, in case it wasn't clear from the summary. GEN, no pairing for the foreseable future, but I might change my mind later. Title subject to change if I ever find a better one.

* * *

Kurosaki Ichigo was dead. Five years, two months and sixteen days after he'd won over Aizen with the Saigo no Getsuga Tensho.

Ichigo was a protector. That had never changed and will never change. It was in his name, in every fibre of his being. So when he saw a little boy on the road about to get hit by a speeding car he didn't even hesitate. The next time he woke up it was to clear blue skies above him and the hard ground below him in Rukongai. He was alone. After a cursory look around him, he flopped back onto the ground, draping an arm over his eyes.

"Sorry Goat-chin. You told me to live well, age well, go bald well, die after you and die laughing. Guess I only got one out of five..."

Despite what everyone else thought, Ichigo was actually pretty okay with losing his powers. He'd been (mostly) normal once upon a time, and going back to it hadn't been as completely awful as everyone had made it to be. (Of course it HURT, there was hole in his world but it was hardly the first and wallowing extensively in self-pity was one of the most useless things to do and he'd learned that real early in his life.) He didn't regret using the Final Getsuga Tensho one bit. All he ever wanted was to protect his friends, and he had succeeded in doing exactly that. Besides, they were all strong enough to protect themselves now, and each other too.

What he couldn't stand however were the whispers, the nervous sideways glances and the looks of pity directed at him. He may have lost his Shinigami powers but it didn't mean he was deaf, dumb and blind, damnit! (And the almost never-ending parade of thugs and wanna-be yakuzas looking to pick a fight kept him in fine physical HUMAN form.)

So right after finishing high school, he'd moved away from Karakura, keeping contact with his old friends only through occasional emails and phone calls. It was just easier that way for all of them. Ichigo's marks in high school had been good enough to get him a scholarship in a college away from Karakura. Not having to worry about madman with aspirations of godhood and murderous monsters out to eat his soul had done wonders for his class rankings. (The look on Ishida's face when he'd beaten him for the top spot in the mid-term exam rankings had been hilarious and remained one of Ichigo's fondest memories.)

He missed Zangetsu of course but it wasn't like they were separated forever. Zangetsu was and still is a part of him after all and Ichigo was sure that one day sooner or later he'd have his Zanpakuto's comforting weight back in his hands. (He wouldn't admit it under torture, but some days he even missed the damn hollow.)


	2. Chapter 2

His reiryoku was returning. He could feel the empty space that was inside him since that day he used the Final Getsuga Tensho slowly filling up again day by day. Ichigo's returning power didn't feel quite the same as before, but he shrugged it off as part of dying properly the entire way this time as opposed to the last few times that he 'died' and was then revived somehow.

At night, he dreamed of a city inverted on its side, with broken skyscrapers shooting upwards towards the sky that were slowly being repaired bit by bit and two familiar voices echoing throughout the empty city.

When he woke up the next morning, Ichigo would reflexively grope around for Zangetsu, only to feel a sense of disappointment when it wasn't there. He'd sigh, then get on with the rest of his day, reminding himself that he'd been without his Zanpaktou for five years, and being patient a while longer wouldn't hurt.

Small steps, Ichigo told himself firmly. Small steps. (Never mind the fact he was more the type to take a running leap ahead.) After all, time was something he had plenty of here in the land of the dead.


	3. Chapter 3

Yoruichi watched in her cat form as the boy...no...the young man fished in the nearby river for his supper. It was only by luck that she felt an vaguely unfamiliar reiatsu flare when a hollow attacked and investigated out of curiosity or she would have never found him. (Watching Ichigo deal with the hollow by kicking it in the face until the mask broke was unexpectedly entertaining.) Rukongai was simply too big. The outer districts frequently went unpatrolled due to the fact Gotei 13 was still recovering from the war. Hence the more frequent hollow attacks. She had taken to randomly picking one district to patrol once every so often and today her efforts have finally paid off.

She has always prided herself on having exquisite timing when it comes to entrances. So Yoruichi waited until Ichigo had taken the first bite of his slightly burnt fish before dropping down onto his shoulders from the branches of the tree she'd been hiding in.

"Care to share?"

The high-pitched yelp alongside the startled face he made was quite satisfying.

"Yo..Yoruichi-san!" Ichigo scrambled up from his sitting position, his hand automatically reaching for his still missing Zanpaktou before stopping himself.

"Well? What does a cat have to do around here for a bite of fish?"

A hour and a half later, Yoruichi considered herself quite pleased with her current circumstances. A full stomach, a warm lap and clever fingers that scritched just right at the back of her neck made for one happy feline.

There were many questions she wanted to ask the boy but those could wait. She was a cat after all.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's** **Note:** As expected I changed the name of this fic. I've never been too satisfied with the old one. I might still change it again, but right now I like it

* * *

_"So Ichigo, what are you doing here in 71st West District?"_

The words 'instead of heading to Seireitei' weren't spoken out loud but Ichigo knew that was what she meant anyway. He sighed and looked up and across the river towards the direction of where he knew Seireitei was located.

_"Dunno. Woke up with this ticket in hand and kinda just wandered in this direction after I..."_ He couldn't finish the sentence. Not yet anyway. So he shrugged and left it at that. "Anyway, I wanted some time to think things through first instead of just diving myself headfirst back into being a Shinigami again."

That was certainly different from the rash teenager she'd known. Then again he was older now and the phrase with age comes maturity usually did have some ring of truth to it. She had never considered him to be stupid either, despite his tendencies to rush headfirst into danger. Gotei 13, both his friends and those that weren't, had their own plans for the boy. His unexpected disappearance after his death had thrown all of them awry (for now). As far as Yoruichi was concerned however Ichigo could do as he liked now. He'd certainly earned it. So she'd keep this to herself for now. Besides, she was confident that he couldn't stay away from the Shinigami forever. Some bonds weren't that easily severed even through death. Especially for someone like Ichigo.

_"If you want to keep on avoiding attention, then you'll need to do something about that uncontrolled reiatsu of yours. Out here it's going to attract Hollows by the dozens."_

It took time, hard practice and lots of scowls and irritated grumbling when Ichigo got frustrated with his progress (or lack of) to get his reiatsu down to what a regular unseated Shinigami would have, even with the advice and reiatsu control exercises Yoruichi had him practice. He'd never had the time or inclination to work on reiatsu control during the Winter War. There had always been too many things to worry about or to do back then. And right now, life would be a lot easier if he didn't feel like prime steak for Hollows all the time. (It wasn't that he couldn't deal with them like he dealt with the last three hollows, but it wasn't just Hollows he wanted to avoid right now.)

Yoruichi wandered off in the middle of one of his practice sessions and it was months later before he saw her again.


End file.
